Workmans Comp – The working mans welfare

Every pharmacist has had to deal with Workman’s Compensation prescriptions at some point in their careers. They usually involve paper billing (although now Express Scripts, RESTAT and others have made them electronic) and a lot of begging/paperwork to get paid.

Pharmacists see this all the time, but its a little known fact that work-comp has become the “richs mans Medicaid”. It has spiraled so out of control, and gotten so outrageous that now I view it as just another form of welfare.

How its supposed to work:

You get injured on the job via some fault other than you being an idiot. Equipment fails, your employer had something go wrong, some freak accident happens. Work comp then pays for your doctors visit and medications. If you cannot perform that job any longer, you find another job doing something that doesn’t require a bad back or missing fingers, etc. You continue to work, your (former) employer’s work comp insurance premiums go up, and life goes on.

How pharmacists see it work (ie: how it really works):

You were at work and get injured because you’re a fucking lazy idiot (with your head firmly planted up ass) and go to the ER for a smashed pinky finger. They give you an Rx for 40 vicodin and some ibuprofen and keep you off work for 3 weeks. You (and your work comp lawyer) then sue your former employer giving you full paid time off. You relax and go on vacation and do other fun stuff with your wife and kids while receiving a fat work-comp check (and free medications). You OBVIOUSLY cannot work any longer because of the MENTAL ANGUISH of having a mangled up pinky finger. It is SO HORRIBLE that you then obtain full disability and never have to work again.

Yeah, its really like that. I’ve seen people get a few medications (like ibuprofen and like 20 vicodin every other month) and continue to work. All the work comp pays for is just a few doctors visits a year, and 2 measly prescriptions that are filled once every 45 to 50 days (and they are 20 day supplies at that). I’ve also seen people who have basically nothing happen to them, go off work fully, get medicare prematurely because they are “disabled”, then have me try to get vacation overrides for their cruise to the Bahamas.

It all comes down to how well you can play up your “injury” and how good of a scumbag work-comp lawyer you can hire. Work comp is raped to the point where the premiums are outrageous for employers, and more and more people (read: police officers; that’s right, I’m calling your ass out) are comping out just before retirement so they can collect their fat retirement check along with their work-comp check. Their reason? MENTAL ANGUISH. Yeah, try to work as a pharmacist for 30 years and see what kind of mental anguish you get from dealing with the same ghetto public without a bulletproof vest, a gun, backup, and a radio to call for help. Another reason why hanging your head in the public trough of state-worker is the way to go.

If dealing with the scamming-free loading work-comp abusers wasn’t enough (as they brag to you about their next vacation, knowing that you’re working hard and they are just freeloading from a system that cant say ‘no’); processing a work-comp prescription is a nightmare all in itself. Some companies make you call a 800 number EVERY TIME YOU FILL AN RX so the processor can get approval from the comp adjuster (the person who decides if your drugs are needed for your comp condition, a position that is filled by an idiot with zero medical knowledge what so ever). Now I admit that it was better then the old days where the pharmacist had to track the adjuster down, but you also got paid a whole lot more for those paper billings vs electronic billings.

Personally, if I was king of the work-comp world, unless your injury left you permanently handicapped or mentally disabled (ie: a vegetable), all of you leeching fucks would be at a desk job, a greeter at Walmart, or any of the 100 million jobs out there that does NOT INVOLVE THE PART OF YOU THAT WAS INJURED. Just because you are a lazy fuck who got hurt because you had your head up your ass, it doesn’t mean that us HARD WORKING PEOPLE (including those who are on comp yet find another job) HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR FREELOADING LAZY ASS.

Maybe your injury wasn’t your fault, but sure as shit it wasn’t mine, so why should my premiums go up because of your fuckup? Sounds more and more like the welfare system to me.

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106 thoughts on “Workmans Comp – The working mans welfare”

What is even better is when they start getting bringing in scripts for meds other than the usual vic-o-dan and flexeril and want them covered under comp. When questioned on why their atenolol,fluoxetine, and adderall now should be under comp. when they were NEVER before, the reason is always ridiculous, albeit entertaining (i.e. the stress from the accident permanently raised my blood pressure and causes constant anxiety which impairs my ability to concentrate) What a joke it is, just another system gone wrong!

We have a customer who gets many Rxs each month through his workers comp and I have called several times to double check because he is also getting his Viagra on workers comp.. yep, thats right, and insurance verified it, apparently he got an injury that prevents him from getting it up.

all your statements ara so true. i hated this guy that i knew that was riding workers comp. he supposedly hurt his back and i used to see him in the bars bent over a pool table all night. the company was paying him a salary and buying his darvocet’s that i saw him eat litterly by the handfuls if he had any left from selling them. any way i called his boss where he worked and told him that i hated the guy and told him what i saw and thet he was being ripped off. i also told him i would sign a satement or go to court or whatever to get this guy caught. he just told me that i know he’s faking but what can i do besides just take it and pay for it. i was like your a complete dumb fuck. thought i would share this.

i check this site everyday for something that just makes my day. it always does too. lol

Everything we enter into WC in MO is covered, only months later we get chargebacks for stuff like Viagra. Funny how we can then never get hold of the patient; s/he’s probably on vacation for the 7th time in 6 months.

Anyone else think we should just say the Viagra, 80th refill of soma/lortab/-pam, or Caverject isn’t covered? We could be a little more discriminatory since WC isn’t linked and we end up f’ed anyways.

“…all of you leeching fucks would be at a desk job, a greeter at Walmart, or any of the 100 million jobs out there…”

Dude, seriously? You seriously think there are desk jobs, Walmart greeter jobs, etc out there? Those jobs get taken SO FAST, the ONLY jobs you can still get are the ones you are specifically trained in or have a lot of experience in. So if you can’t do the job you’ve been doing or are trained in, you’re pretty much fucked these days. Now, if the COMPANY has a desk ob you can do, they ought to be obliged to train you in it rather than hiring someone else and if you don’t want it then you don’t get WC. But the truth is, these days taking away the person’s ability to do the job they have experience in means taking away their ability to get ANY job.

Bullshit. It keeps them from doing any job they prefer not to do. If you are employed in an industry that requires rigorus manual labor, you should plan for that time when are no longer capable of doing that job. I shouldn’t have to pay because you didn’t plan. If you are willing to work and do a job to the best of your ability you will be able to find something. else Stress comp is my biggest gripe. Forty years ago when I got out of Pharm school there were a couple of classmates that could not handle the pressures of working in the Pharmacy, back then they would have booted their ass for even asking. Retrain yourself! Do some charity work, do it well and you will find someone you come in contact with who will find a place for you. There are hundreds of ways to get new, sometime better jobs, but they all start with you, not work comp.

Now here comes Express Script, Restat and the other fucks that want you to make 4 phone calls to make $5 on a script. Then act like they are doing you a favor when it goes through. Fuck them and fuck you unless you have been a regular patient at my pharmacy.

For every person who milks workman’s comp, there’s another worker who doesn’t file at all despite having a legit claim. This is because they’re afraid word will travel within their industry in town and they’ll never be able to get hired anywhere else ever again if they do end up leaving their current employer one day. Companies do find out somehow about past claims and discriminate against workers who have filed, despite this being highly illegal. Employers aren’t the only victims.

i’ve seen florida state troopers (when i worked in miami) come in for workman’s comp prescriptions for blood pressure meds and viagra (30 tablets for 30 days!!) – they say after 30 years on the force caused it…and guess what? its all covered…what a bunch of crock

Cops are the worst. They get older and all those donuts add up to a heart attack. They will get work comp, disability, and their penison. They can make more than working. I have 4 of them for customers, nice guys but WTF.

A girl I went to school withs’ father has been on workers comp since, uh, I was in primary school (read: the 90’s) for, get this, GRABBING ON TO A OVERHEAD POWERLINE AFTER BEING DARED TO AND GETTING ELECTROCUTED.

There’s a gentleman in Pt Charlotte FL getting workman’s comp from the US government for STRESS! That’s right, he’s getting his SSRI and benzo FREE OF CHARGE ON OUR DIME!!!!!! All perfectly legal. That was some mighty fine lawyering. In fact he’s had cosmetic surgery and is able to pay for his Propecia (mind we HAVE to match Sam’s club price on that). Where do I sign up???????

Now TAP, I know your anger towards this issue. I heartily agree. But I was raised on the idea that no one side is completly at fault and no end of any spectrum (ie liberal or conservative) is completly right. Compromise. Let the assholes suck it up and take a paycut to $7/hr and go work for some grocery store. If they can no longer work at their old job, well, Sh*t happens. the problem is the same as with the welfare system. too many applicants with too few case workers to decide if they really need it. It’s like a screaming kid. You know you can’t really gag them and shove them in a closet till they learn their lesson, so you cave and give them the god damn icecream. there should be a class in pharmacy school about how to keep your sanity when you encounter stupid f*ck ups during the day.

The local McDonald’s had a part-time night job open up, working in a shitty neighborhood in a restaurant that regularly gets armed robberies.

They had over a HUNDRED applicants. The position was only OPEN because the previous person quit because they decided an unemployment check was safer than drunk people trying to shoot them.

I work at an amusement park with completely unreliable hours, just for the summer, the inability to get a second job because the hours are irregular, and ridiculous requirements for employee appearance (measurements of hair length, not even pierced ears on women, etc) and they had HUNDREDS of applicants.

Our Walmart hasn’t had to advertise a job in months, they work off their six-month backlog of applications– most of the applicants never found jobs. The positions are super competitive and you will not get one unless you have YEARS of experience in retail and sales, because they have so many applicants to pick from.

I mean, I’m sure there are areas of the country where you can still get a job, but where I am you better have years of experience if you want ANY position except a greeter, and they won’t give that to anyone who isn’t mentally retarded, so they can get their kickback from the government for helping the severely disabled be self-sufficient (which I won’t knock, it’s good for them to have those jobs, but they aren’t available to the rest of us). I seriously have applied at jobs I thought NO ONE would be applying for, like collecting samples from toilet tanks, flagging down passers-by for sales on busy roads, and working night-shifts in gas stations in the sketchiest areas of town (where you’ll get shot over a bottle of malt liquor), and found out that they had this overwhelming pile of applications.

If a person can, of course, they should move to anywhere there still are jobs (maybe the South? who knows) but that ignores a lot of issues that can limit a person’s ability to change states, like a spouse’s job or their ability to make a down payment on rent/not live with family or friends (I have a legit excuse for not moving, I am a full-time student at my state school and I’m only a year from graduating so moving is a bad idea).

“There are always jobs” is bullshit. No, there are NOT. Sure, someone may be hiring but what chance does a construction worker have of getting a job in retail if that same position gets a hundred applicants with over 10 years experience in the field?

YOUR CHOICE — But like I said before – try volunteering you may very well impress other volunteers who may have connections. Even if it doesn’t, there will be a great deal of satifaction on your part to be helpful in a good cause. Probably best to stay away from radical organizations tho.

Yeah, I have trouble scheduling except at night because my hours are irregular but I do work at the soup kitchens and do big clean-ups of public property when they have them. I’m also active in religious groups and have a wide extended family helping out. It’s always good to have a wide circle but right now it’s not good for much (though when things pick up, it’ll mean a lot). In my case I am graduating in a year and will be able to find steady work then, since my degree is good for that, so making friends with people in biology is best.

can’t tell you how much I hate these scumbags, especially the cops. I have a guy who gets BP meds, diabetes meds, ED meds, on and on… Highway patrolman with STRESS. The only, repeat only, legitimate WC claim I’m familiar with was never filed….after 25 years of lifting, pulling, tugging fat illegal alien pregnant biotches as a Labor&Delivery nurse, my patient finally can hardly walk, move or take care of herself. Had to retire, and it took her THREE AND A HALF YEARS to finally collect on Social Security Disablility. Killllll the lazy fucks.

you people are all assinine and obviously because of your sedentary jobs dont have any idea of what it is to actually work for a living. Someday I hope you get injured to the point where you cant function. It would serve you all right

What’s really kinda funny is that mine is the exact opposite, I got tendonitis in my right arm and went to the docotor and what not, meanwhile, they suggested I speak to my employer about workmans comp. So I did.. they hemmed and hawed and I said “frack it”.. and paid my $20 copay. NOW my damn insurance company is sending me forms to fill out because they think that my claim should be paid by someone else.

I actually had a car accident back in April because my boss was having me drive 90 miles away at 3am knowing I was in night school until 10pm.He threatened too take my job if I didnt do it. I was on the clock and fell asleep at the wheel, but I had not planned to pin it on the company. It was my previous boss who turned it in to wc. I cracked 4 ribs, busted a lung, and fractured my ankle so severely I have to have an ankle fusion to fix it here soon. The doc say’s he reccomends me start looking for a sit down job. I have been off work for 6 months because I can’t stand or walk and thats what my job requires. I am willing to work a sit down job, but am afraid if I leave the company to find one they won’t pay for my surgery and if I leave the company I wont have medical insurance to afford the surgery myself. Does anyone know if I leave and get a job somewhere else do they still have to pay my medical? I don’t want to sit on my butt and get a check every week for nothing, I never have liked that. I’ll work, I just can’t afford the medical.

@ Basiorana – there is ALWAYS a job out there, you just have to want it enough to work hard to find it. I hate when people give me BS about not finding a new job because there “aren’t any out there.”

On a WC note, I once took a fall coming out of the pharmacy I was working in, while taking some trash and DPI boxes to the stock room. I sprained my ankle and limped around the store for 3-4 weeks and never filed a claim, even though my boss TOLD ME I SHOULD. They way I figure it, if I wouldn’t go to the doctor if it happened outside of work, why would I file a claim and make WC pay for it?

See my comment above– there are many areas of the country right now where it’s easier to get weapons-grade uranium than a job you aren’t experienced in.

(This is not to say people should cheat Workman’s Comp. They shouldn’t. I just object to people claiming there are jobs out there in an economy this bad, it’s just that people are too proud to take the shitty ones out of their field– that’s not the case at all.)

No, sweetie, it’s not that “no-one” can get a job. It is just that your shitty, whiny attitude can be both seen and smelled across the worldwideweb. It isn’t a matter of not-hiring, it is a matter of not hiring YOU.

I have to agree with you Pattie. I am so sick of hearing that there are no jobs available. My dad always told me that finding a job is a full-time job i.e. 8 hours a day out turning in applications, dropping off your resume, etc.

Now, from personal experience, I got hired by a pharmacy as a cashier with zero pharmacy experience just a month after turning in the application. I am now a certified tech with the advantage of hands-on training. But there are no jobs available…haha that’s funny shit. Oh, and for the record, I have family and friends all over the US, from CA to MA, and from MT to TX and they all seem to find employment easily enough. So people need to take responsibility and get over it.

As for WC, omg I hate dealing with it. I have tendonitis that was brought on by a former job and I didn’t file a claim…I just found work that was less stressful on my wrist. What a concept!!!

Hey, the only federal aid I’ll take is food stamps so I don’t starve (which I will go off of as soon as I graduate and move somewhere that has more openings). I’m not exactly cheating the government, here, and I don’t think anyone should. But when 1 in 8 college graduates are working out of school and there are hundreds of applicants for every shitty job in the area it’s pretty obvious that it’s not just me. You’re right that they are still hiring, just not hiring me– of course, they are also not hiring anyone who hasn’t worked in a very closely related job for five years or more, because they have so much to choose from.

It’s pretty obvious neither of you have tried to find a new job in the past few months without experience in the field, at least in a related one– and guess what, “pharmacy cashier” means experience in CASHIER WORK, not pharmacy, as the relevant experience. Did you start as a pharmacy cashier within the last 6-12 months with zero retail experience and no family connections? I doubt it. And do you have family in population centers with very high unemployment rates, family with zero experience/training in any work they could do, and family who cannot move to a place where there is work?

Right now it is possible to work full-time finding a job and have nothing come up, to knock on every door in my town and just get put on the massive pile. I apply to an average of 10 jobs a day, the number of new positions they advertise for that don’t require some form of licensure or certification.

Seriously, did you guys miss all the people on the news saying how shitty the economy is right now? Businesses are going under faster than people can get hired at new jobs. No one is willing to expand their businesses and most places have hiring freezes. Of course, that doesn’t matter; it’s clearly the individual’s fault that the economy tanked and there are a thousand applicants per position. I suppose all those people in soup lines during the Great Depression were just lazy, too? Just be glad pharmacy jobs are relatively recession-proof and be glad you have work experience and aren’t fresh out of high school or just lost the ability to do any job related to your experience.

And I’m guessing that you and the millions of other lazy asses feeding off the welfare system would have nothing to do with the economy tanking?? Oh, but you can’t even find a job at McDonald’s I guess. I have family in MT and the economy there sucks balls (I was just up there last weekend), yet my younger brother, who has a year left of college, is finding a way to start his own business at the ripe young age of 23. His wife has a job, and they manage to do everything on their own, including paying for his school. They do all of this without the help of Uncle Sam and the working people’s dollar (or should I say billions of dollars)?

And as for the news, does no one get that the media is ruled by the government? They want everyone to be on assistance so that the wonderful left-wing liberals can rule our great country through socialism and owning everything. Oh, and as for the Great Depression, that is a totally different. First off, we have plenty of technology to battle that, secondly it’s not considered to be a depression until the unemployment rate is at 15%, and once again the tanking economy has nothing to do with the welfare system you are leaching off of I guess.

Also, I did have cashier experience, but not in a pharmacy. If what you are saying is true, then I should be a front-end cashier and have no chance at entering pharmacy since I had no experience. I think it’s hilarious the way that people act like there’s no work but if you walk down restaurant row here, you see a hiring sign in pretty much every window, from cooks to waiters and waitresses to hostesses, even management.

So stop whining, get less picky and find a job to hold you over for awhile. I swear, the entitlement and gimme mentalities around this country make me sick!! Go to a 3rd world country, come back here and see if you have any reason to complain?? You people wouldn’t last a week over there.

Again, please, please, please go back to school. I couldn’t read past the first line. ANY HIGH SCHOOLER should be able to tell you why the US is in the state it is- and it has NOTHING to do with lazy Americans and everything to do with CORPORATE GREED! Buy a clue.

You’re full of hate and vitriol without any knowledge or basic understanding of the economy. Great- you’re the reason Americans are perceived as being the most ignorant of any first-world country. Because you are.

You’re also probably quite the little fatty yourself. No wonder you’re a pharm tech, you’ve got the intelligence for it..

Also- your younger brother apparently has your intelligence. I can’t wait for when he has to apply for assistance because he was too lazy and trashy to wear a condom and already got some idiot girl knocked up. Yet you guys are the good ones, right? LMAO

Also, what in the world are you on about, plenty of technology to fight off a depression?? How fucking daft are you, girl? Forget government assistance- I’ll GIVE your fat ass 30,000 to go back to school and come back with something other than “HURR DURRR MAH TAX DOLLERZ! LAZY LIBRULS! GIT A JOB!”

You keep talking about hundreds of applicants for the same crummy jobs being the reason you aren’t getting hired. There have ALWAYS been tons of apps for positions that I’ve wanted and yet I’ve managed to get the jobs I want.

You have to set yourself apart from the rest of the sheep by showing the potential employer that you WANT that job more than anyone else. What seems to work is checking on your application over and over and over again until they finally break down and give you an interview – then you have to actually impress them during said interview. Seriously, have you never taken a high school careers class?

I may not have had to look for work in the last year but I’ve definitely been on the application process side screening apps so I know what employers look for and just turning in an application for a job a monkey can do is not going to cut it – you need to be proactive. Quit whining. You do not need experience to get a good job, my pharmacy has hired people straight out of high school as technicians in the last year and then gave them on the job training AND provided technician certification training courses for them so they can get certified. If you just turn in that application and hope it jumps out to bite my hand when I’m going through applications then no, you’re not going to get a job with me.

Go back to school and get a clue. Your experiences aren’t everyone else’s, and despite your know-it-all attitude, you actually DON’T know the employment statistics for every city, town, and county in the US.

My father-in-law had a boiler blow up in his face which knocked him off the ladder he was standing on. Third degree burns and a shattered heel. He just had surgery on the foot and is now in a cast with crutches. This is what workman’s comp is meant for. He has had such a hard time with the system though because of all these people ripping it off they don’t even trust the real people who need it. So sad.

My back hurts from standing on my feet ten hours per day in the pharmacy….if I were a con artist like half of the people on Workman’s Comp, that would be a perfectly legitimate excuse to draw a check for the rest of my life. Bullshit.

About three years ago before I graduated, I was working as an intern in Big-City Hospital. Patient was crashing in CCU and they needed an epi drip. I mixed it, pharmacist checked it, I ran down the hall to the elevator to deliver it, slid (still wearing my booties) and jammed my thumb completely backwards against the elevator button. It hurt a bit – but nothing horrible. I was laughing about it with someone, management overheard, and FORCED me to go to workman’s comp (apparently it can otherwise be held as liability for them?) – ie, don’t come back until after you go and get cleared to return to work. That meant – physician visit, three consecutive days of 45 minutes of PHYSICAL THERAPY, prescription brand-name NSAID (c’mon, where’s my ibuprofen…), and a followup physician visit.

OK check this shit… I’ve got a patient who is a retired cop with TWO comp claims, one for “pain” and one for “heart and hypertension”. Yeah. First off they both go through Tymesys. That company uses the SS# for claims, so depending on which drug you fill, you have to go in and change the person code to either a 00 or 01. Recently they decided to stop covering his ASA 325mg. Not shitting you. Best part is he is refusing to buy it OTC… and luckily his doctor is the most pompous, arrogant fuck around here, and refuses to process Prior Auths, let alone respond to refills in a timely manner. I said to the patiient “just go buy a bottle for 3 dollars”…. won’t do it. “It’s the principle”…. he shops all around this store, arguing prices and bullying everyone into getting his way. I CAN’T TAKE IT!!!!

My favorite is the guy who had a bad back to begin with. Went to work and did some dumbass thing to make it worse. The current employer pays. The system is a crock of crap, a smelly, rotten, festering crock of crap!

I know of an insurance that paid for a office visit, full body x-ray on a person, meds and a few days off and all that happened was the person tripped. Didn’t fall, nothing hit the ground, she ran into nothing. Total BS!

We have several 40-something female patients who have sued every single factory in a 50-mile radius (of which there are many) trying to cash in for a big settlement over some tiny injury that was self-inflicted on purpose. Coincidentally (read: not at all a coincidence), all these lawsuits started happening as soon as their youngest “disabled” welfare kid (read: we took the kid to 20 doctors until one would diagnose something and we’d get a bigger check) was about to age out of the system.

There seems to be a clear life path for sociopathic, dirtbag women in rural communities: get pregnant for your 18 birthday, have another kid at least every 6 years so you always have one kid at home and “can’t” get a job, try to get every kid labelled disabled no matter how much it screws the kid over when they try to get health insurance as an adult, sell the kids’ ADHD medications to a meth addict sex offender who you leave alone with your children regularly, eventually try to get the state to pay for clomid so you can squeeze one more kid out and get another 18 years of bennies, then, when the last kid is approaching 19, apply for disability start suing everybody so you can get a big settlement just as the welfare is getting cut off anyway. Then ask us for a vacation override on your vicodin and xanax because you’ve had such a hard life “being a mommy” that you need to go to Barbados. AGAIN.

I haven’t gone on vacation in almost 10 years. FML.

[Edited to add: And I’m not saying there are only dirtbag women here. There are dirtbag men too but their life plan seems to be selling/taking meth, stealing copper pipes, and robbing the homes and cars of people who are at work, you know, actually being productive. If these guys had wombs I’m sure they’d be crapping out crotch trophies for cash, too.]

I’m glad I’m not the only one noticing. I believe there is a segment of the population that simply lives off the productive segments. They know the system and extract as much from it as possible. This information is passed on from generation to generation. We need a new War. War Against Leaches or WAL. Pharmacists should spearhead the assault.

Alex De Tocqueville said it best “every measure which establishes legal charity on a permanent basis and gives to it an aministrative form creates thereby a class unproductive and idle, living at the expense of the class which is industrious and given to work”

Here they wait till they’re 18 to start trying to get pregnant because they’re all on their parents’ welfare until age 19. (Guess who taught them how to be a con artist?) That gives them a one year leeway to either get pregnant or realize they’re sterile and then fake a mental problem and apply for disability instead. Anything to not get a job like a responsible person. Seriously, if these idiots spent half as much time acquiring job skills as they do malingering and gaming the system they could be rich. Then they could afford to smoke even more Marlboros while pregnant.

How adorably misogynistic that you hold the men who impregnated the women not accountable at all (not that any part of your post was at all based on actual reality, i.e.- THIS NEVER HAPPENED). How about whining about the dirtbag men who can’t be bothered to wrap it up and then, I DON’T KNOW- TAKE CARE OF THEIR FUCKING KIDS?

Wow – just came across your website and I have two questions. 1) Are you really this much of a jerk or do you ramp up the rhetoric to entertain your readers? 2) You obviously hate your job and pretty much everyone who walks through the door so why don’t get out of the business and find another way to make a living? You are going to have a long, miserable life at this rate. Thanks to you I’m now eyeing every pharmacist with suspicion, wondering if they are also an angry, bitter person passing judgement on everyone and everything. Most trusted profession indeed.

WE ARE WATCHING YOU TOO! You obviously know nothing about this site if you making this statement. Most of us love our jobs, but there are problems within our jobs that TAP feels the need to air. If you are truely ill and need help TAP is your best friend. If you are trying to scam us, which is about 50% of the long term Work Comp cases, we have a problem. You should be concerned also. If you have a legit claim, it will be more difficult for you to get the help you need.

MT is a loser, come to the “angry pharmacist” website and what do you get? any guesses?

Find me one person who doesnt bitch about some aspect of their job? I have even seen a professional footballer on something like 120k for a weeks work complain their job was like slavery. We bitch about specific people because they piss us off and we arent allowed to bitch at them.

Imagine someone came into your workplace (that you have this topic here to sound off means you probably dont work, but bear with me) that person then does any number of the following
1. lies to you
2. tries to commit fraud against you
3. boasts about how they dont have to work cos the state pays for them
4. tried to steal from you
5. is rude to you
6. complains that everything is your fault
7. allows their children to trash the place
8. insults you or the other staff
9. doesnt listen to a word you say (even if it could save their life)
10. nags you constantly about things you have no power over
11. and any other things that come up every single day…

Now, if you are still paying attention, do you
A. tell them what you think about them to their faces and get sacked from your well paid job that you worked hard for.
B. come online and annonymously bitch about them and give everyone a good laugh

#smiles# now I feel better, sick of people treating us like crap, and people saying how bad we are for not loving every single aspect of our jobs

lol… “C)”…. he posted in numbers idiot… not letters. Btw Busy Guy obviously you’ve never worked in a pharmacy and dealt with any number of these daily idiots… or… maybe you’re just one of them. I work in a pharmacy as a technician and I spit my thumb open and cut right through my tendon due to a “freak accident.” Work man’s comp paid for my 6 hour visit in the ER,my shot, 9 stitches and Keflex prescription…. yeah no pain meds you druggies. I just took Tylonol and Ibruprofen. I am beyond grateful to my employer. And guess what…. even with a damaged tendon I’M STLL WORKING as a Technician and I have to use my fingers every day with everything that I do. Could I just decide to stop working and leach of my “former” employer like the rest of these douche bags and seek “physical therapy” for the rest of my life? Sure. The point everyone is trying to make is that the morality of our country has gone to shit. Please forgive us for bitching that we “innocent” people have to pay for people who want to abuse these programs and rub it in our face because yeah you’re right… there isn’t shit we can do about it.”Tough up” you say…. well we’re toughing up every single day we stand there and smile in your face while you rip us off while internally we’d like to beat your face in and give you a real injury for that WC.” “BusyGuy” Tell me something…How busy can you possibly be posting on blogs you have no idea about. Stop crying you say??? Why don’t you bug the fuck off and stop whining about our complaints. oh btw… Thank you and have a nice day!

Seriously, MT, Chris put it perfectly. No, we're not raging assholes like we come off as on this site. We need a place to VENT our frustrations, because, like with any job, only those in our same position can TRULY understand and sympathize with us.

Which brings me to another point: it's rather apparent that you don't work in the pharmacy field, so you really shouldn't shoot your mouth off about things with which you have no experience.

If you met me in life, I would be a very nice person. I AM a very nice person overall. However, my job (and future job, at that) absolutely come with their own set of frustrations, and I'm SO grateful that a site like this exists for me to read about other people's problems and vent my own, or else, like Chris said above, I would likely spout off at a problem patient in the pharmacy and lose my job.

Can’t speak for TAP, but nearly all pharmacists in retail love their profession and hate their job. Most of us would rather blow bulldogs, if it paid as well. And we have already had a long, miserable life by the time we’re forty.

TAP speaks for many of us in health care, disgusted with this up-side down world where 7th grade dropouts with addictions and allergies (to work!) get to spend their days of leisure living on our money, getting drunk and fornicating, and being shitty to people who got A\’s in school and a job.

If you had to stand on your feet for 9 hours a day listening to screaming welfare kids, getting yelled at by all the idiots that are getting free medical on our dollar, and not to mention the people that assume that all we have to do is “count some pills and slap a label on the bottle”. Do you even have a job? I love my job and look forward to work but I need somewhere to vent and thanks to TAP and all you wonderful pharmacy people I can come here and regain some version of sanity. Glad I’m not the only one that gets frustrated at people sometimes. haha.

why are you so angry? truth is, angry pharmacist, anybody could do your job. You ought to be paid about $10 an hour. Ive watched you guys work. But, due to the excessive educational and licensing requirements for your dishonest and overpriced profession, you wind up making 80 grand a year.
must be nice

First off, Lew Denim, I make about 120 grand, not 80. Second, you’re right! Anyone can throw clomipramine (or was that clomiphene, whatever) into a bottle. I mean, who really cares if that shot I just gave you was from the Pneumovax vial or the Novolog vial. It’s all pretty much the same stuff. The guy at Taco Bell that gets $10 an hour gets my order right 70% of the time (I would love to see a pharmacist who gets an order right 70% of the time!).
It’s true, 99% of the time we use 1% of what we learned in school. But, the 1% of the time we truelly start saving lives! So sorry you couldn’t get through the excessive education. I tell everyone, “if you think I’m overpaid, then why don’t you become a pharmacist.” They all hem and haw about too much school. Well guess what, I went through it. And I would never get a prescription filled by someone who didn’t.
So I could save you a lot of money switching you from your 90mg a day Avinza over to 90mg hydromorphone just as easilly as I can substitute two cheeseburgers for a double. However, you would probably end up dead (I honestly did have a physician try to convert from 20mg/day oxycodone to 2 X 100mcg fentanyl patches!!!). Can’t figure out what’s wrong, stay out of the pharmacy.

so next time when you or your loved one goes to ER, gets new intern and Rx for something that is interacting with rest of your meds/have allergy/too expensive (take your pick) or your md does not respond for your pleads for an app,,,
make sure to visit one of dishonest and overpriced people,,,and ask for an advise,,,,

I completely agree with you. The workman’s comp people I deal with everyday are whiney, bitchy, rude mother fuckers that demand everything; just like the Medicaid splooge guzzlers. I hate filling a work comp claim because it takes for fucking ever for a 3 dollar reimbursment; after that you’re backed up with whining bitching morons at your counter wanting THEIR Lori’s and Xanny’s filled now. The welfare and worker’s comp system both are a complete failure, and can suck my ass!!!

On another note, I was injured at work once when I worked for Walgreen’s. I was getting a medication of the shelf to fill, when my tech accidentially bumped into the shelf, which was not securely bolted down, fell on top of me hitting me in the head, and gave me a concussion. Wag fucking made me go to the ER, and filled out under workman’s comp. I let them pay for my ER visit, but I was back at fucking work the next day. A few weeks later I receive medical bills for 1500 dollars billed to me, and expected me to pay in 2 weeks. Haha, Wag forgot to turn the clain in, surprise surprise. Needless to say, after a month of letters, and legal involvement with my lawyer, they finally paid. The fucking system is broke, get a different system, or tell those fuckers to pay cash, or suffer, I’m tired of dealing with it!!!

Haha, I have to post this, even though it has nothing to do with the topic. I don’t know if this story has came out nationally or not; but there was a pharmacist in Oklahoma City, about 2 hours from where I live and practice, that shot and killed someone that came in to rob him with a gun. The “robbers” were two teenagers, 16 and 17 i think, that came in pointing a gun at the pharmacy staff, demanding narcotics, controlled substances, and money. The pharmacist had a concealed weapon permit in OK, and pulled his gun and fired at the robbers. He hit one, and chased the other out of the store. He came back into the pharmacy and looked at the guy he shot, and he was still alive and armed. The pharmacist went into the back room, got another gun, came back; the robber apparently tried to point his weapon at him, and the pharmacist emptied his pistol into his stomach. The Oklahoma City DA is charging the pharmacist for murder!!! Bunch of fucking bullshit. The DA said that there was no evidence of a weapon with the wounded robber. I watched the pharmacists statement on the news, and he was shot in the hand by that low life motherfucker before he emptied his gun into guy. I honestly would have done the same thing, I carry at work cuz we have been robbed before, and if I was in the same situation with a gun in my face, and had the opportunity to retaliate, I would emply my 16 round clip of 357 sig hollow point ammo into their chest. We deal with the shitty public all day, and when they try to actually threaten our lives, we aren’t supposed to protect ourselves or employees’? Haha, lethal threat deserves lethal force!!! The website this story is on, if they haven’t removed it yet, is http://www.newsok.com

Long time reader, first time caller (writer?) oh well. I apologize for this not being on the subject, but it is something that should be said. I think that pharmacy students working in the retail world may very well be the most overworked and underappreciated employees a store may have. Torn between the duties of a pharmacist and a tech, they have to fill a dichotomy, they are the madonna and the whore so to speak. I am saying this because I currently and pissed off. I work at a semi-corpo chain pharmacy on the east coast, and I pretty much just got shit on my management. I work various stores in my chain, receive no money for mileage, all in hopes I can get 40 hours a week, because I cannot work during the year. Every summer, the ol’ students receive their paycheck in hopes that they get their raise, for the year, and sometimes the dreams may be dashed. Personally, I have been waiting for this check since May. After finally getting acknowledgment from my DM that it will be in one to two weeks from this date…I will NOT be receiving a retroactive paycheck from May and June. The concept of a retro check has been ok for years, and they just change it at the drop of a hat. Mind you last summer, they paid me too much, and I actually had to cut a check to my work for the what they overpaid me. Sound ridiculous eh? In the world of corpo chain pharmacy, in which $4 “genetics”, free antibiotics, rising costs, lower payments, “me 2 drugs” and fucking Moxatag…students never will win. They are not respected like the pharmacist, and are not around daily like the techs. What is your view on this? I hope you treat your students like gold TAP, they will repay you in the end. Thanks.

At one time, I worked at a store where an entire family was on workers comp. The father was riding in a truck, not driving, and the truck wrecked. He claimed he was injured and was getting work comp for the rest of his life. His wife claimed she fell inside a Wal-Mart and she was getting her meds on work comp. By the way, they were both taking Xanax. The daughter was on workers comp. She got hurt on her job, and her husband was on work comp too because he got hurt at his job. What is the probability that everyone in a family would get hurt on seperate jobs and be on workers comp?

Truth to that my friend. I have a guy that has been on WC since 1980 cause he had an anxiety attack at work. Used to always request brand Xanax under WC (DAW 2), which of course we can no longer bill DAW 2 to his WC anymore. Now he gets shit like 90 ds of Lexapro @ 60 mg daily. I’ve had panic/anxiety attacks at work multiple times and I don’t file WC, I just have to deal with it.

Yep I’m sure that all that school was unnecessary because we are all born knowing everything about drugs. A pharmacist doesn’t just stand around all day slapping on labels and counting a gazillion pills everyday. They know all about the drug interactions that could save your piddly little burger flipping ass. They can tell you about anything about any drug on the market, including side effects, dosages, what the dr prescribed it to you for, what meds you can’t take because of an allergy to one stupid ingredient, and not to mention dealing with drs and insurance and the never ending line of demanding patients that have no patience and think that the pharmacist is there to answer every dumb question that they could have asked their dr.

Oh, and let’s not mention the people that go cleaning their kids’ room, find an unidentified pill and call….. you know who….. The friendly neighborhood pharmacist wanting to know what the damn pill is and what it’s for. Off of a simple description they identify the mystery med and give the information needed to inform the parent that their kid is on oxycodone and needs help. But like I said, we’re all lucky enough to be born with that knowledge.

Before you get all defensive about how racist or prejudiced retail pharmacists are, let me explain that we like 95% of our customers, welfare, self-pay, work-comp, whatever. Its that 5% that make our lives miserable, no matter what type of insurance we bill! Yes, I see Medicaid patients driving nicer cars than me while smoking a cigarette and talking on a cell phone, but I also see ones just trying to raise their kids on a meager salary, doing the best they can. This website is a place to rant about that 5%, please let us do so without calling US names. (We’re on this site after another 10 hour day with NO break getting mistreated by that welfare chick in the Hummer with a cigarette and cell phone!)

I am a DISABLED Police Officer who was injured in the line of duty both physically and mentally. While there are some people who take advantage of the system, it is not the norm and there are Police Officers who are really in need of help. I must be nice to sit in your safe air conditioned office and judge people who you don’t even know while the men and women in blue protect your non deserving judgemental ass. I just hope and pray that you are never in a place where you become disabled. The difference between you and me is that I have no problem with my tax dollars helping you in your time of need. Grow up!

Police officer, we are not complaining about those individuals who truly need that WC. We’re all more than grateful for the time each police officer has spent on the force protecting our lives and putting theirs in major danger. We’re angry with the \single\ person for their thieving and cheating ways, no matter what their profession is, not just police officers. We have no problem that our tax dollars are given to those who are in a time of need either, but we’re angry when our tax dollars are spread out to individuals who aren’t in need of that help while the ones who truly do need that help are going rounds and rounds while they’re in major pain, which sometimes includes ourselves. The \people who live behind glass houses\ aren’t the only ones paying into the abuse. The whole working class is taking part. The only reason why you see us complaining more than the average worker, is because we are face to face with the abuse every single day of our lives. Would you be angry with a Jew in a concentration camp who cries because his life is not right???? No. Of course not… well unless you’re a racists against Jews and in that case don’t even bother reading. We’re just crying out, because we’re that Jew in the concentration camp, and things aren’t right. Do we think that our whining is going to fix it???? No…..Do you think that Jew whined to the other Jews… I damn hope so, he’d be insane not to. \Safe air conditioned offices\ you say??? Pharmacies are put at gun point and robbed regularly… Kirk’s pharmacy not 2 miles from where I work had a bomb threat the other day, what for??? Oxycontin… give me a break we’re at face to face with angry, hurting, sick people every day. If we’re not in danger from that gun threat or that bomb threat we’ve got coughing, runny noses,SWINE FLU knocking on our antibodies every day. \Judgmental asses\ you call us? You don’t think you’ve never put judgment on that \drugy\ you arrested? The world is judgmental, that includes you sir. So like my good friend Jesus might say \You who have not judged through the first stone.\

I’ve worked my ass for twenty-five years, and have just recently had a legit worker’s comp. claim. I’m not trying to milk anyone, and you’re an asshole. I’m also not out of work and continue to work my ass off, with a few restrictions. Why? Because I’m a workhorse, and I believe in a strong work ethic. I also believe that if I am injured at work, they should take care of it. Again, just for the record, you’re an asshole.

I have a friend that was legitimately injured at her work. She has been on WC fo r 13 months now and was contated by the WC to tell her that they had paid her too much. They are demanding repayment. Is this legal? She does not have the money to pay them back. All her money goes towards other things the WC will not cover (i.e. loss of much needed income).

lost 4 fingers on my right hand,1 kidney,1 lung,4pints of blood and a spleen,and i get a check for doing nothing,,,,,,you whinners where going to collage,i was keeping america safe so you could do so,,,,,quite you bitchin,i sprained my ankle,,wwwwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh i earned it FUCK OFF!!!!!ILL KICK ALL YOUR ASSES WITH 1 HAND!!!!

Hey Warhero stop your fucking bitching, no one asked you to join the military, you did it on your own. In my view you aren’t much of a warhero if you are going to complain about the citizens of America you protected all because they claim worker’s comp. Otherwise, the injuries you received comes with the territory in the job of war so stop making apples and oranges comparisons about your injuries in the line of duty to that of a person in civil employment.

Unfortunately, I’m certain the vast majority of people who try to access workman’s comp are honest ethical and law abiding citizens. It is my belief that companies are doing everything they can to not pay for legitimately hurt employee than employees gaming the system. What people on this site fail to understand is 90% of all Workers comp cases are denied within the first 30 days. Many doctors of workman’s comp refuse to treat patients until the patients waive all their rights…That way the workman’s comp cases that are paid by the companies can be denied to patients without any medical reason or repercussion to the doctors. This way compensation for injury are almost zero. They system is actually rigged against employees. It’s criminal.

Everyone is complaining about the injured employees when they fail to see the real problem is the greed within the insurance companies. These people have it set up to make sure they generate a certain amount of profit for their CEO’s. They will, and are comitting fraud on a daily basis by only hiring doctors that will commit medical malpractice to ensure a favorable outcome for the insurance company’s bottom line. It is nothing more than a numbers game to them, and they aren’t the least concerned for the recovery of anyone that files a claim. They are only in it for themselves. That ladies and gentlemen is why your premiums are so expensive. Do a lttle research into the billions these crooks make each year by denying and or lessening benefits to the injured worker while they rip off the employers by overcharging them with high premiums.

Forgive me for replying way late. I am an educated adult who is a police officer, thinking of getting my grad work done in pharmacy. A couple of days ago I broke my foot on the job in a training accident (motorcycle crash). As a result I am on workmans comp for (gasp) a period of 3 whole days.

As much as I would love to hang out on the beach, I will be riding a desk soon for at least several weeks.

I’m the last person who would claim all cops are perfect boy next door types. With that said your comment regarding police officers seems a little far fetched. I’m sure what you’re describing happens in every occupation. Where do you get your information regarding police officers? In my years in law enforcement, I’ve only heard of that happening once, and it was never confirmed by our employer (might be a HIPPA issue, I don’t know).

After seeing the “patient” side of the issue, I am glad workmans comp exists. If it doesn’t exist, employers could kick their employees to the curb simply because they were injured at work.

I don’t necessarily agree with the ease in which you describe a fraud could be comitted. With the mountains of paperwork and red-tape BS I’ve already put up with, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to commit fraud. Luckily I have the support of my employer and it was witnessed by 20+ people, and I am still having a hard time dealing with the adjuster. They do not easily hold up their end of the bargain.

I had a patient yesterday that got BRAND freaking percocet, ambien cr, and a muriad of other BS that I cringed while filling. How do doctors sleep at night? seriously, DAW on a percocet, reallly, really!

I would like to enter this. You are all badgering on. I used to work
for a Fortune 500 and I would go back but I have this (believe it or not)
relationship over this side of CT not NY> I have a back injusry due to
unscrupulous idiotic and darn they knew it was a problem. I fell because
of a cord tangilng me and sending me FLYING TO MY BACK ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR. AND NO I AM NOT HAVEING SEX. IT HURTS TO MUCH. I HOPE YOU ALL FALL ON YOUR BACKS AND GET HURT. IN THE MEAN WHILE HAVE FUN FILLING OUT THOSE PERSCRIPTIONS. AND DO NO SEND SSOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF OTHER
CLIENTS OUT OVER THE INTERNET TO STRANGERS. LIKE ONE OF YOU PEOPOLE SENT ME. TOW PEOPLEL SS#, ADDRESSES, AND AGE PLUS INJURY. ONE OF THEIM IS A MINOR. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING BUSTED ON YOUR END. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF HELPING ONE OF
THOSE COMP PEOPLE SUE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE WORKING CLASS. I AM HURT.
I DONT EVEN WANT TO WALK INTO YOUR PHARMACY. AND NEXT TIME I DO A SURVEY I AM GOING TO KNOW WHAT TO WRITE AND WHERE TO DIRECT THE SURVEY TO THIS SITE!!!! I HAVE AN EDUCATION TOO, YOU MAKE ME SICK WITH SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS.

Get out of the proffession and then someone like me that has confidentiality, and legal respect for others to take your job. I need one. Did you know that all of the input you have been doing here could get you fired??? REMEMBER THAT CONDFIDENTIALIY CLAUSE YOU SIGNED.
WELL REREAD IT WELL. I SAW A BUNCH OF INTERNET RAGING NURSES GET FIRED.
I SUGGEST YOU STOP NOW.

I just stumbled across this angry website. Wow, so everyone on wc is beating the system? Well, have you ever thought about the way wc treats the injured worker? I was a very young women who had an injury to my back, one that proabably required manor pt but my wc doctor told me I would be fine just return to doing my job. Well, the injury was a raptured disc. I continued to do the job for a month. Then, I lifted a 75lb box and my kness buckled and I went to the floor. Since then my life has been full of HELL! Is this my fault? I had a very good work record.Loved my work. I now have steel rods in my back. Is this my fault? I hate idiots like you who stand on the outside looking in. My life is miserable. I hate it. You said go do a desk job. Getting out of bed everyday is a good thing to hope for. And, there is no day without pain. All because a wc doctor ruined my life. I wish I had taken matter into my own hand and not believed that he knew the best for me. I would be willing to pay a high premimum any day over this life. Oh, and do you expect us to never vacation because we were injured on the job? I hope you all experience pain everyday for just one year not even the rest of your lives……

Well I will not deny there are people abusing the system and living off
compensation… but before you all cast judgement please be aware there are people on comp who well are injured and disabled.
I would love some viagra but my heart is severely damaged and cannot take any added stress.
My spine was crushed yet I walk with a cane that I need to help aide
with balance etc. 7 disc and a spine fracture kinda causes issues …
so before you toss a script across the counter to the next comp trailer park head up their ass n got hurt CUSTOMER … Please remember some of us who cover the scars with clothing or walk a wee bit straighter in public are indeed in pain and need whatever their doctor prescribes.

Oh FUCK ALL THAT… “raping the system”? Are you fucking serious?? All I know is that I’m 1 year post C&R California and having needed 1 surgery, the mental toll surpasses the physical I’ll deal with for rest of my life. You people should seriously take 2 seconds away from your only view on this and consider what LEGIT cases have to look forward to.

Losing roof over your head due to reduced income, increased physical damage due to doctors on Insurance side filing shit to deny care because the victim actually WANTS a dr that gives 2 fucks or can even REMEMBER for instance which knee is injured at the fucking PREOP appt! And mostly incompetent people across the board because you’re “angry”.

Those of you that are” angry ” or think that those of us that get hurt are getting vast sums of money in settlement are eating too much of your pain med inventory…. You are just a slip and fall away at work from getting a taste yourselves. I wouldn’t wish a work injury on my worst enemy – the “injury” itself honestly is the fucking LEAST of your soon to be life altering issues unless you were filthy rich to begin with. In which case IF you made over 100k per year and god forbid are deemed to have a permanent disability in which you cannot work again….PH-FUCKED you will be.

They don’t take cost of living into consideration when determining your disability level. So most likely while you sit in agony unable to pay for mortgage, put food on table, clothe your kids, etc (4 yr degrees, med school, that education that’ll be rendered useless in earning potential) ONLY then will it hit some of you that maybe just maybe the problem lay withing doctors lining their own pockets along side of the corrupt fucking insurance. THEN come back and complain how well injured workers have it…